Before
by hollow-eyed
Summary: A simple Team Minato ff, for those of us who really really love Rin, Kakashi and Obito, and wish the Kakashi Chronicles had been 3 seasons long.
1. Lunch

Disclaimer: I am in no way associated with the Naruto manga/anime or character, I have a boyfriend and I don't find whiskers sexy anyhow.

Chapter 1 - Lunch

Maybe things would have been different if she just did something. But Rin was no good at being impulsive - she left that to Obito. Instead she magically hoped her silence, her diligence might attract him, but part of her always felt that it was hopeless. Kakashi wasn't the sort of person to fall in love. He was too wrapped up in the rules, the right thing to do, power, training, his father...

She knew all of that - she knew him, better than anyone really and it was because of this that she felt sure he would never notice her. Sometimes she would fantasize about what would happen if he did care for her. Would he bring her flowers? Would he smile at her? Would he show her his face? Or would he be as he always was because he would hold his feelings back, just like she was doing.

But how could such a cold person ever fall in love?

Rin stood alone besides a tree, the roots cropping out from the earth just between her feet. In the distance she could spot the white of Kakashi's hair flashing in and out of focus as he spared with their sensei. He was becoming faster, and more aggressive, though he was still no match for Minato. In another instant Kakashi hit the ground with a thump that resonated around the clearing.

"Serves him right..." muttered Obito from up above. Her brown eyes looked upward to find him sprawled unceremoniously on one of the trees branches, a kunai in his hand. She said nothing and turned her eyes back to Kakashi who was standing once again and charging forward. How long had they been training? Three hours, four? How wasn't he exhausted?

"You must be pretty bored, want to head over to the Village and get something to eat?" said Obito as he landed smoothly on the spot next to her.

"No, thank you."

He sighed and from the corner of her eyes she could see that he was disappointed. Maybe she should have been clearer about that too. "What are you going to do then? Just stand here watching them?" he persisted.

"I'll start my own training soon."

"But this is our day off."

"I know, but he works so hard, we should at least try to keep up."

"Ah!" he scoffed and leaned against the tree bark. "When I get my sharingan it's Kakashi who's going to have to try to keep up."

Rin smiled and turned to him. She knew exactly what Kakashi thought of Obito and yet she couldn't agree. He might be lazy but he had a good heart. "You shouldn't depend on sharingan Obito. It's beneath you. A shinobi has to learn to be strong on their own. You can't depend on anything or anybody." Her eyes trailed over to Kakashi again. If only she could heed her own advice...

"Yeah... I guess you're right," he sighed. She was so entranced by Kakashi and Minato's quick movements that Rin failed to notice Obito inch closer to her. "Are you sure you don't want to eat something? I could bring it here, you shouldn't train on an empty stomach." Beneath his goggles Obito was blushing a little. It was embarrassing having to insist so much, but she was worth it, of that he was sure.

"I'm fine really," she paused and looked over at him again. Their arms were almost touching and she could see a certain eagerness in his expression that she was sure she herself bore whenever Kakashi talked to her. People were really very transparent, she could see the use of wearing a mask all the time. "Obito-" she said quietly looking through his gleaming goggles to the dark eyes beneath "Why are you here? It's our day off. Why aren't you with your family?"

He shuffled his feet and she watched his face turn red. "I just-I-" he seemed at a loss for words. "I wanted-" he began but in that instance they heard Minato's voice calling out to them from the clearing.

"Hey there you two! Are you hungry?" he yelled. Kakashi was sitting down a few feet away, his clothing filthy, and dozens of little cuts on his hands and arms.

"Obito's starving!" Rin yelled back, flashing the dumb-struck Uchiha a smile.

"Good," in an instant Minato appeared right in front of them a smile on his face. "I didn't know all of you were going to come out today-" his eyes landed on Obito who squirmed away, his face still red. "Kushina had invited Kakashi for lunch but I'm sure she'd welcome all of you, would you like to come?"

"Sure," said Rin automatically.

Obito seemed much more hesitant. He was staring at Kakashi who was slowly making his way over to them. "I don't think so- my parents-" he stumbled over his usual excuses.

He had just turned away when Rin said, "But I thought you were hungry? And Kushina is such an excellent cook." He halted dead in his tracks and turned around to look at her. Why did she always have to look so pretty? "Come on Obito, it's nice to have the team all together."

Kakashi had reached them but even the sight of his covered face and apathetic eyes couldn't stop Obito from accepting the invitation.

While they walked Minato and Kakashi discussed their training while Rin kept quiet. He wondered what she was thinking about, and why she always seemed ready to sacrifice her precious days off to be with Kakashi, even when he ignored her entire existence. He hadn't even said a word to her all day! And between their missions and her medical training Rin had even less spare time than the rest of them.

"How's your training with Shizune going?" he asked, loud enough to drown out Kakashi and Minato's conversation.

"Pretty good, she's a very nice Lady."

Obito looked around the streets they walked through trying to get another conversation started between them, but Rin was occupied listening to the other two's conversation. He resigned himself to their silence and instead skitted ahead of the group so as not to hear Kakashi's annoying voice.

Kakashi. Everything was about Kakashi. He was so young! He was so talented! He had so much promise! It was said even the 3rd looked in on his training with admiration. Everyone thought he was the best in their generation, the most talented young ninja since Minato had been a child. All of that might well be true, Obito couldn't deny that Kakashi was extremely powerful, especially considering he was two years younger than him and Rin. But power wasn't everything, Kakashi was entitled, arrogant, and more selfish than anyone he had ever met.

"Obito where are you going? The House is right here," said Minato from behind him. Obito turned and realized that he had never been to their Sensei's home before, but the three of them were standing in front of a small gate, through which he could see a very pretty garden.

He ran back to them, just in time to hear Kakashi say something nasty about his sense of direction.

"Shut up, I've never been here before!" He retorted, crossing his arms over his chest.

"That's no excuse, ninja are supposed to have instincts," his voice was cold and as soon as the words left his lips he turned smoothly on the spot and began walking down the garden's path to the front door.

Obito narrowed his eyes and for a moment considered turning around and going home but as always Rin stopped him. She had stayed by his side, and was smiling sweetly. "Come on, don't chicken out."

"I'm not."

Her smile widened, and she grabbed hold of his sleeve and half-forced him down the path as well. The garden was to all sides of them and beautiful, he had never seen some of these flowers before but their smell was intoxicating. He sniffed the air - he could also make out the sent of teriyaki chicken, his favorite. Maybe this had been a good idea...

Minato opened the door for them and they filed in neatly. Obito got the distinct impression that Kakashi was here very often, as he confidently made his way to the main room after taking his shoes off. He stayed close to Rin, it was said their Sensei's wife was very fierce, and had a temper that the smallest thing could set off.

As they reached the main room the smell of chicken became much more prominent - as did a certain voice - a voice Obito knew very well.

"I think Kushina's team is here as well," said Minato.

Kakashi and Obito groaned at the same time and then looked at each other crossly. Rin smiled again, "I don't think I've met them, they're a year ahead of us right?"

"Yeah, but they're really nothing special," said Kakashi before their sensei could answer.

At that instant they heard a woman's voice: "Minato is that you?" and a second later she was in front of them in a long dress and flaming hair. Obito gulped - she did look terrifying - but in this instant she was smiling.

"Oh, you brought the whole team, I thought it was just Kakashi," she said giving the smallest boy a fond look.

"Yeah, they were watching us train, not a problem is it?" His tone was cautious. Was he afraid of her too?

But then Kushina laughed and broke out in to a huge smile full of teeth and she suddenly didn't look half as scary. "Not at all, I've got my boys too, and a ton of food. They were actually helping me make it, I was testing their culinary know hows so it should be very fun." She then turned to her to Obito. "I've actually never met you before have I? I'm Kushina."

Obito nodded and might have been forced to say something awkward but there came the sound of pots and pans crashing from another room and she disappeared her hair lingering a good 30 seconds after her body's exit.

"Who is in Lady Kushina's team? Anyone I might know?" asked Rin as they made their way into the living room.

"There's Genma Shiranui, Ebisu and-"

"The creepiest guy in all of Konoha," finished Obito.

Minato smiled. "Might Guy is a bit, different but I think creepy is a bit harsh."

"For once I agree with Obito," muttered Kakashi as he took a seat in one of the armchairs.

"He's got a very strange name, what's he like Kakashi," asked Rin taking a seat next to him.

"You'll see soon enough," he muttered, barely even looking at her.

Minato left them after a second crash of pots was heard, saying he was going to see if Kushina needed any help. To Obito's horror Rin immediately volunteered to help him and they left together, so that he was stuck with Kakashi.

"Do you come here a lot?"

Kakashi shrugged. "Sensei and I train together and he invites me here sometimes. He would probably invite you as well if you ever trained."

Obito turned red. "The second my sharingan get's here I'm going to-"

"You don't know anything do you! Sharingan doesn't 'get here' they develop as you develop. And since you haven't developed in the slightest then you're never going to achieve that."

"Shut up!"

"Gladly but stop talking to me."

Obito sighed and looked around the room - there were pictures of Minato Sensei and Kushina everywhere. They were holding hands, hugging, walking together along various places in the world. In some of them they looked just out of battle, with ripped clothes and blood smears, while in others they were happily at home. There were other people he recognized in them, there was one with 2 of the Sannin, Jiraiya and Lady Tsunade, as well as with the third and in one of the walls there was a picture of Team Minato. He was standing between Rin and Kakashi, trying to make light of the situation by making bunny ears. Kakashi looked annoyed and Minato aggravated - but it was Rin who caught his eye.

She looked beautiful.

At that moment a cry was heard from a distant room. "Kakashi Hatake is here! The prodigy child of the leaf!" The voice was unmistakable, it was Might Guy.

There was a third crash of pots and he entered the room in a flash, looking ridiculous as always in his green jumpsuit and bright orange leg warmers. "Kakashi!"

Kakashi rolled his eyes and looked in a different direction. "Hello Guy."

"I challenge you, right now, right here. I will prove that I am the best Konoha ninja!"

"No thank you," muttered the white-haired boy.

"What are you scared Kakashi? Everyone says you're so great, but I work hardest and I am better than you."

At this point Kakashi stood up, and for a fraction of a second Obito actually thought they might begin fighting right there, but that wasn't Kakashi's style. He merely shrugged and muttered, "Those are just words, they don't mean anything. The greatest, the most hardworking, in the end it all comes down to the moment and all those silly things that people say don't mean a thing."

"Uh, guys, the food is ready," muttered Rin who had just appeared in the doorway, holding a tray of tea. "Everyones sitting down already, so hurry up."

"Come on," muttered Obito as he walked passed Kakashi and Guy. His own experience with Might Guy had been extensive since they'd been in the Academy together. He had trained very hard indeed, and made anyone else that didn't spend 10 hours punching a tree feel inadequate. But that wasn't what Obito disliked, back then they had been friendly. But ever since he got partnered with Kakashi, all Guy wanted to talk about was beating him in a fight.

Apparently Obito wasn't a good enough competitor for him. It was insulting! Everyone was obsessed with Kakashi. Everyone! How was that possible! The whole town! He entered the dinning room. The table was barely big enough to accommodate all of them, Kushina and Minato sat opposite each other on either length of the table, Rin was to Minato's left and Ebisu next to her. Genma sat next to Ebisu so that the right side of the table was completely vacant.

Obito sighed - he had hoped to sit next to Rin - but took a seat in front of her and next to their sensei none the less. Kakashi took the seat next to him and Guy was to the right of Kushina. It was then that he turned his attention towards the table. It was covered in plates of food - sushi, teriyaki, salt ramen, tempura vegetables, spicy curry, and barbecued meat - enough to feed at least 20 more people.

"Everything looks great Lady Kushina, thank you very much," said Rin with a small bow, the boys made similar mutters but their eyes were on the food.

Kushina smiled, "Well, dig in everyone!"

Instantly chopsticks moved onto the food, clasping meat, fish and vegetables and loading them onto plates that soon had a little bit of everything. It was all fantastic - even Kakashi looked like he was enjoying himself, and after a few minutes of silence conversation broke out again.

"This is the best food ever!" said Guy, looking up with tearing eyes at his sensei.

She laughed, "I'm glad you like it - see I told you Guy everyone can learn how to cook."

"Only when they have you as a teacher," he muttered, dreamily looking up at her. It was at that instant that Obito remembered something he had heard a few weeks ago. He had been walking through town when he met Genma and the two had caught each other up on their teams, and their mission - as much as they could say anyway. And in that occasion Genma had revealed that Guy had been crushing on their Sensei since the first time he tasted her food.

He let out a spontaneous laugh, which caused everyone to look at him.

"Are you okay?" asked Rin.

"Mmmh," he muttered grinning to himself. Guy had a crush on Kushina! He looked over at the boy again, nothing could be funnier than this. She was ten years older than them, and married to the most powerful ninja of the leaf! He wondered what Minato would do when he found out... Obito snickered.

"What's so funny," muttered Kakashi under his breathe.

Normally Obito wouldn't have bothered telling him - Kakashi clearly had no interest in gossip - but in this occasion he simply couldn't hold himself back. He leaned forward and muttered into Kakashi's ear. "Guy has the hots for Kushina Uzumaki."

His expression didn't change - but he did look over at Guy with new eyes.

"I heard Lady Shizune say that you were her most promising student," said Ebisu all of a sudden, and with a red face. He was of course addressing Rin.

She smiled. "I wouldn't know about that - I still have so much to learn. I've only been her apprentice for a year."

"She seemed very impressed by you," he continued, his face turning even reader. Obito's jaw set - he could see an unnatural gleam in Ebisu's eyes behind those ridiculous glasses of his. Did he like Rin? He clenched his fist under the table, if that was the case the little idiot was doomed.

"I've heard the same thing as well, and Lady Shizune wouldn't say so unless it was true, ya know!" said Kushina nodding and simultaneously stabbing a piece of meat with her chopstick.

Rin was turning pink. It must have been because in their group nobody took much notice of her. Minato was busy with Kakashi, and she didn't care for Obito's company or conversation. "Thank you," she muttered with a small smile.

The dinner would have likely continued in this fashion but at that instant Minato stood up, his eyes towards the front door. A second later he had disappeared - Kushina stood up too.

"If anything happens I will protect you Sensei!" exhausted Guy, standing up and moving closer to her.

She didn't say anything, but pushed him back as if he was a measly fly. He crashed to the floor and gave a shudder.

"Is something the matter?" asked Rin.

"No, I don't think so," she said, shaking her head. "I just think someone came to the door." That proved remarkably true, the moment the words left her lips they heard the sound of the front door opening.

"How did Sensei hear it?"

"He's got very good instincts," said Kushina, admiration lacing her voice.

Minato re-entered the room, a black Op by his side. "I'm afraid Lunch is over, Kakashi, Obito, Rin, we have a meeting with the third. We're likely setting out immediately afterwards."

Without answering the three of them stood up, Obito had managed to create a kabob of meat on his chopstick. "I'll send you a message before leaving, Kushina," said Minato softly towards his wife who merely nodded. Then the four of them filed out of the dinning room, Obito chewing on his meat kabob gleefully.

A/N: This will be a four part story centered around the mission that got Kakashi elevated to Jonin status. All comments, questions, feedback and knock knock jokes are appreciated.


	2. Nighttime

WARNING: Don't read this if your parent's haven't explained to you where babies come from.

Chapter 2 - Nighttime

"We'll rest here for the night," said Minato long after dark had fallen. Rin gave a grateful sigh and dropped her bag on the ground. They had been on the move since leaving Kushina's more than ten hours ago.

"Here? Really? Can't we stay at an Inn tonight Sensei, we're still in the Land of Fire," said Obito, his eyes on the uneven ground.

"There will be spies in the Inns," muttered Kakashi.

"Yes, there will be," agreed Minato, leaning against a tree. "I will rest a few minutes and then go on ahead. I shouldn't be long, stay here, and get some sleep, we set off again just after dawn."

Rin and Kakashi were already unpacking their sleeping bags. Most nights the four of them kept close to each other - and as often as she could Rin tried to set her's up next to Kakashi's.

Minato disappeared and Obito joined them. "I wish I had brought more of Kushina's cooking," he said, pulling out his own sleeping bag and sprawling it uncomfortably close to her's.

"It was very good," she said, removing her shoes and snuggling into her sleeping bag.

"Did you see Guy's face when he was eating - it looked like he was about to-" Obito laughed and stopped the sentence midway.

"About to what?" asked Rin.

"Uh... nothing. I just heard he has a big crush on Kushina, and today confirmed it. He didn't take his eyes of her."

"He is so strange," said Rin laying down fully and looking up at the stars. "She's married, and we're too young-" her eyes flickered over to Kakashi for a fraction of an instant.

Were they too young? And to young for what? To young to fall in love? To young to be together? She couldn't think that - not when taking in account her feelings towards Kakashi. She would do anything for him, she knew that. But what would that mean? Would he realize how much she cared for him then? Could Kakashi understand love? She wasn't sure, she wasn't sure he had ever loved anyone, or that anyone had ever loved him. Maybe his father...

"Ebisu seemed quite friendly with you-" said Obito. He meant it to sound casual but it didn't.

"I noticed that too," said Kakashi, though his eyes were closed.

Rin turned pink. "Noticed what?"

"He likes you."

"No!" she said immediately. "I mean he was nice to me and-"

"He sat next to you, and kept looking at you, and complementing you, he was almost as bad as Guy," finished Obito.

"I'm sure you're wrong, he doesn't even know me."

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree with Obito _again_, he does like you."

Rin's pink tint turned red. "Really? But why?"

"Because you're-" Obito felt his throat dry up. There were so many adjectives he could have inserted there. She was beautiful, and charming, sweet, and strong, dedicated, and wonderful. She had every positive quality anyone might want, Ebisu could like her for any of them.

"Do you remember Master Jiraiya?" said Kakashi after a great awkward pause following Obito's last statement.

She blushed again. "Sure, he's one of the great Sannin." The first time they had met he had told her that she would grow up to be a great hottie, and that as soon as she turned seventeen she should track him down for a good time. Rin had never quite figured out if she should feel insulted, angry, or pleased about that, after all he was a great Shinobi.

"Well he has a book about this - it's called Icha Icha Paradise."

"I thought that was only for adults."

"Yes, but Jiraiya gave it to me. I can let you borrow it if you want. It explains a lot."

"Do you have it now?" said Obito. "I've heard it's a very good book." That wasn't exactly what he had heard about it - but it certainly sounded like a good read!

"It's in my bag, but Sensei told us to get sleep."

Obito jumped up and grabbed hold of Kakashi's bag. "He also said he'd be back soon, he always lies."

Rin sat up too. "I think Kakashi's right, it isn't the time for this."

"We'll there is never time for any fun is there? Today was our first day off in 3 weeks and look where we ended up."

Rin gave out a low sigh. "You're going to be exhausted tomorrow, and do something stupid. Go back to bed."

"I'm just going to read a few pages," he said finding the book and flipping it open. Immediately his eyes went wide as saucers - he had never seen _that_ word in writing before - he had only heard it when he spied on the older Uchiha members. "Jiraiya wrote this!"

"Seems hard to believe, no?" said Kakashi who was sitting up now too. "It's a very vulgar book, but that's apparently how grown-ups think."

"How do they think?" said Rin as she leaned closer to Obito, trying to read the page that had scandalized him so.

"I can't believe they even published this," said Obito as he flipped the page over and spotted more unspeakable words. "Did Jiraiya beat the book-maker into submission or something?"

"It's a best seller," Kakashi shook his head. "People are perverted."

"Per-?" Rin was blushing again. "What kind of book is this? A romance book, or-" She could not bring herself to say the word.

"I guess you could call it romance, but it's really that other type," Kakashi's voice was disdainful.

Obito frowned, if Kakashi hated the book so much why was he carrying it around. He ran his hand through the spine of the book, it felt like it had been read at least a dozen times. He looked back at Kakashi, did he secretly like this?

By now Rin had vacated her own sleeping bag and was by his side. He shut the book in a hurry not wanting to even imagine what she might say when she saw some of the words in it. "What? Only boys can see this book?" she asked trying to get it from him.

"It is intended for boys - and older boys at that."

"I'm older than Kakashi," she pointed out, "And he's read it. Come on! How bad can it be?"

"Let's just go back to sleep," said Obito as he tried moving away from her - an action he never remembered doing before. Frantically he looked over at Kakashi for assistance but he was calm and spiritless as always. This was his book and therefore his fault, why wasn't he doing anything about it!

As Obito scrambled backwards on his hands, Rin followed him, still trying to get the book and then in an instant the most magical thing in his life happened. Rin fell over on top of him, flattening him to the ground. Her arms were to either side of his shoulders and her face tantalizingly close to his own. He let out a low breathe, he had never seen her so close before - her eyes looked so warm and beautiful.

A moment later however the moment was gone as Rin had risen, and taking advantage of his daze grabbed the book from him.

"Hey!" he muttered as she went to her own sleeping bag and cracked it open.

The first word she read sent a shiver down her back. She had never heard or seen it before but in the context there was no doubt what it meant. She traced over the sentence with her finger, as if this action might erase it from her mind. To either side of her the boys were quiet, Obito with a panicked expression. She read the entire page, feeling her face grow pink again - this was no romance at all. As she reached the last sentence she closed the book and handed it back to Kakashi.

"I don't think I have to read anymore, the message is pretty clear."

He accepted it without saying anything and lay back down.

Obito watched her as she rearranged her sweater to form a pillow and turned over - away from him. People say that silence is powerful - that it means more than words, but things weren't like that for Obito. He mistrusted silence, especially in Rin. He would like to know everything she thought, about the book, about Kakashi, about him, about their mission. He wanted to have an honest discussion about what was written in those pages - all those things nobody would talk about.

His parents had eluded to the subject a few times. His father's exact words had been: Babies are formed when a man and a woman are together physically. Nothing else had been as concrete, and he was left to imagine what "together" could mean. Of course since then he had heard more about it from fellow ninja.

Men at war are quick to distract themselves when they are back home on leave. He had heard that many of them visited special woman who got "together" with anyone who payed them. From that he assumed that getting "together" was a goal for these men, although it had taken him a great deal of thinking to understand why. He had only pieced the last bit together when he saw the book. Getting "together" was enjoyable - more than enjoyable. Jiraiya wrote it with so much passion, like it was the best feeling in the world.

He looked at Rin, had she gotten the same impression? Did women feel joy in getting "together" as well, or was it only men? Had her parents told her more than his had? His jaw clenched, silence was annoying, especially when there were so many interesting things to talk about.

Finally he lay down and a few minutes later his snores filled the night.

A couple of feet away from him however Rin couldn't sleep. She kept thinking back to the words in that book. As a konoichi, and a medical student she probably understood more about it's content than either of the boys did. Both Shizune and her mother had been perfectly clear in this matter. Babies came from sex, but sex could and did often occur without babies being in the picture at all. Men wanted sex, and women wanted babies, so intercourse was not unusual between them. Many women had to try for years before getting pregnant, and many men had sex with numerous women before finding one they wanted to have a child with.

Her mother had told her this with a cautionary note. "You will be out on missions with men, you will be gone days and nights with only men for company. And you have to keep your decorum and your dignity. Don't touch them, don't let them touch you, don't kiss them, and above all don't fall in love them. You're too young to even think about it, and many good konoichi find their downfall in this."

Shizune had the same message but was much more subtle in it. She gave it to all young girls when they left the academy. "It is important to stay focused on missions. Your team are your friends, you have to depend on them and trust them, but don't involve yourself in anything that might distract you. Remember this is a time of war, we need you to be strong, to be focused, and to be on the battlefield. Romance is a natural part of life, but in wartime sacrifices must be made and as Konoichi that's one more sacrifice you will be making."

Was Rin being faithful to their teachings? She had never kissed anyone, and her only physical contact with boys was when she was healing them or during battle. But what about what they had both said about loving? Was she breaking her promise to them by thinking about Kakashi all the time? Would she be more focused if she didn't care about him?

The night was calm and lovely, millions of stars were looking down on them, and if she was being honest with herself Rin would have called the setting perfectly romantic. If Kakashi confessed to her here, if he admitted he cared about her even the smallest bit, she _would_ kiss him, mask and all. She would be with him, not in the sex way, but in the sweet way. Like other young couples in town, composed mostly of people who weren't shinobi. She would hold his hand, and go on dates with him. She would tell him everything about her day and kiss him goodbye at night. That was what she wanted, and not even the knowledge that it might complicate their missions could stop her from thinking that the greatest thing she could ever imagine for herself was to have him love her.

A/N: This chapter came along pretty quickly, and the next one is already half-written so I'll be updating soon. Thanks for the reviews and I hope you like this chapter I had a lot of fun with it. Oh to be able to read Icha Icha Paradise!


End file.
